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Clean Air Journal

On-line version ISSN 2410-972X
Print version ISSN 1017-1703

Abstract

TSHEHLA, Cheledi  and  DJOLOV, George. Source profiling, source apportionment and cluster transport analysis to identify the sources of PM and the origin of air masses to an industrialised rural area in Limpopo. Clean Air J. [online]. 2018, vol.28, n.2, pp.54-66. ISSN 2410-972X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2410-972x/2018/v28n2a18.

The Greater Tubatse Municipality in Limpopo is home to three ferrochrome smelters and over fifteen operational mines which are mining chromium, platinum or silica. Source apportionment in this study was performed by combining air mass back trajectories and receptor modelling. The particulate matter (PM) samples at six sites were collected using the University of North Carolina Passive Samplers. The monthly samples were collected for a period of 4-5 weeks, except for August-September and September-October 2015 where the samples were collected for up to 6 weeks. The sampling was carried out from July 2015 to June 2016. PM chemical analysis was performed using Computer Controlled Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (CCSEM-EDS). The PM chemical analysis indicated the presence of elements such as carbon (C), calcium (Ca), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), aluminium (Al), silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg) and lead (Pb). All the six sites except site 1 exceeded the WHO annual guidelines for PM10 concentration of 20 µg/m-3. The annual chromium concentrations exceeded the New Zealand limits of 0.0001 µg/m-3 and 0.11µg/m3 Cr (VI) and Cr (III), respectively. The back trajectory clusters computed by the HYSPLIT model identified 5 transport clusters for each site. The main transport patterns were northerly to north-easterly, easterly to south-easterly, and south-westerly to north-westerly. The US EPA PMF model version 5.0 used in source profiling and source apportionment identified agriculture/wood combustion, coal combustion, crustal/road dust, ferrochrome smelters, and vehicle emissions as the main sources in the area. The source contributions varied across all sites indicating the existence of different microenvironments within the airshed and that the pollution can originate from either local or regional sources as indicated by back trajectory clusters.

Keywords : source apportionment; back trajectories; particulate matter; chemical characterization.

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